Firekeeper's Daughter

Plot Summary
Daunis Fontaine lives in two worlds thanks to the scandal of her birth. In Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, she carries on the prestigious and white Fontaine name. On Sugar Island, she is known as a Firekeeper, daughter to hockey legend Levi Firekeeper. As an Ojibwe teen, she is an outsider in both circles. To escape this discomfort and the whispers surrounding her mother's historic teen pregnancy, she planned to go far away for college. That was before her Uncle David Fontaine died of a drug overdose, and her grandmother suffered a stroke, leaving her mother in a fragile state. She planned to make the best of things with a year at the local college, but when her best friend Lily is murdered, she is thrown into an FBI investigation. Daunis is shocked to learn that they want her to take over for her Uncle David as a confidential informant to learn who is distributing meth around the Great Lakes. If she wants justice for Uncle David and Lily, she will have to pretend to everyone that she has thrown herself into a new relationship with the newest hockey star at the high school. If anyone finds out that her new relationship is actually with her case partner, it could put her family, on both sides of the ferry, in danger. 

Critical Evaluation

    I enjoyed the plot and the characters and would highly recommend this book to others. However, there were two aspects of the writing style that I could see being unpopular with teens. First, the pop. culture references were around twenty years old. As a recently published novel, teens today might not align with a character's love of Amy Winehouse, or see themselves texting with a keyboard or watching a Hilary Duff movie. Boulley says the book reflects the period where meth exploded in popularity and gambling became a money maker for tribes in Michigan (Clayson, & Beiner, 2021). This would not be an issue if the book made a conscious effort to set the reader's mindset in the correct period from the start. In The Midnight Club the opening scene of episode one clearly states "1994 Sacramento, California." I could see a similar introduction being beneficial to Firekeeper's Daughter.
My second issue with the writing style is the historical background throughout the narrative. It helps the plot, but does not sound natural coming from a teenage character in such large doses. When Daunis stops to explain border crossing, per capita payments, boarding schools, and tribal enrollment, she sounds like an older teacher. As mature as she was supposed to be, a more natural delivery from a teenager would briefly interject the topic into conversation or pare down the topics for maximum effect. I could see this repeated injection of knowledge feeling like required reading. The section on boarding schools, where she described her grandmother's fear of children being taken, even after the boarding schools closed, was an effective narrative. However, also stopping the story to describe how border crossing agents were discriminatory despite treaties, could be removed.

Creative Use for a Library Program

  Indigenous Cultural Salon: Invite teens to spend an evening exploring cultural touchstones of one Native American tribe. If possible, select a local tribe. Staff tasked with creating the event should display appropriate art similar to an art gallery, serve accurate refreshments, and guide the teens through the local history of the tribe. Local history can include topics such as: agricultural and herding practices, colonization, spirituality, and current-day traditions. 

Book Talk

  David Fontaine is dead of an overdose, Lily Chippeway is murdered by her boyfriend, and Daunis Fontaine is left behind to bring them both justice.  Meth is poisoning her community and the FBI tasks Daunis to find the distributor and turn them in. In a small community, it could be anyone, even someone she knows. Can someone rejected by both the town and tribe find the answers? 
 

Reason for Inclusion

On my journey in young adult literature, I am continuing to enjoy contemporary Indigenous stories. In Firekeeper's Daughter, the culture of Daunis is present when she investigates a criminal enterprise by how she grieves her loved ones and protects the reputations of the victims. These stories provide a mirror to reflect indigenous youth and a window for others to gain a better understanding of tribal culture. 

Potential Challenges and  Defense Preparation

This book does have a history of censorship due to sexuality and mature themes. 

1. (2023) Removed for review at the Fort Worth Independent School District

2. (2023) Blocked by Brandywine School District in Niles, Michigan 

3. (2023) Removed for review in Escambia County, Florida

4. (2024) Removed from shelves at Wilson County Schools libraries in Tennessee
   (American Indians in Children's Literature, 2024)

The best defense for any library is a strong reconsideration policy.